Who's thankful for you?

I am a big Thanksgiving fan. I like the fact that it's one of the few holidays left that doesn't focus entirely on us. It's a time when we get together with family and friends and reflect on all the things we are thankful for. If you're on facebook, over the past week, it was filled with people posting on all the things they are thankful for. I really like that; it's always good (and healthy) for us to look around and realize how blessed we are (more about that in my next post).

As I was thinking about all the people I am thankful for, I began to wonder, "Who is thankful for me?" When people make their lists of everyone they are thankful for, how many lists would I be on? Now, before you accuse me of being some kind of egomaniac and turning giving thanks into some kind of self-centered feel-good exercise, I just can't help but wonder how much better my world would be if I lived my life in a way that made people thankful for me.

My youngest son and a classmate of his are sponsoring a child, Abdalla Omar, in Kenya through Compassion. I'm pretty sure that if you ask Abdalla to make a list of everyone he's thankful for, my son would be on his list and that's a good thing. A friend of mine helped start an organization to help the people of Kenya who are HIV+ get physical, emotional, and spiritual help while at the same time teaching them life skills to help them become self-sufficient. Thus far they have impacted the lives of hundreds of Kenyans. I bet my friend would be on their list of people they are thankful for and that's a good thing. I have another friend who is helping build an orphanage for special needs kids in China. I bet he'd be on their list and that's a good thing.

Here's my point. I think it's great to make a list of all the people and things we are thankful for. But how about making another list of all the people that are thankful for you? And, what if we made the conscientious decision to be intentional about making that list longer? How much better would the lives of those around us be? And, how much better would the world ultimately be?

I think that would be a very good thing.

I was totally speechless

One night at dinner in Kenya, I met Dean. The first remarkable thing about Dean is that he is completely blind but still manages to travel all over East Africa (he's from Dallas). The second remarkable thing is that Dean heads a ministry that builds wells in Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia. I thought wow, what a coincidence, we need to build a well on our property in Ethiopia. Furthermore, his engineer, Bob, was in Tanzania and was headed to Ethiopia later in the week. Dean left for home the next day but I managed to get some contact info about Bob and fired off an email. He said, yes he was coming to Ethiopia and he gave me his cell number and the cell number of their Ethiopian national so they could hook up in Ethiopia with our director. I flew back to Ethiopia a few days later and I was standing in line at customs and noticed a guy wearing one of those Christian witnessing bracelets. I asked him if he was on a mission trip, he said yes. I asked him what he was doing, he said I build wells. I thought wow, another coincidence, two well diggers in Ethiopia at the same time. Nope, it was Bob! How is this possible, the guy I have been emailing and trying to hook up with our director is standing right next to me! I was totally speechless. We managed to introduce him to our national director and they are going out to see about building a well on our property on Saturday! The other cool thing is that the town of Dukem has been without running water for a month! I'm talking a whole month for a whole town without running water. We are praying that Bob may be able to help with that as well.

I don't know why these kind of things surprise me, they happen all the time. I think maybe I have a too small view of God. But after meeting Bob at the airport, it just might have grown a little.

Top Ten Things You Should Know Before Coming to Africa

10. You have to be careful when saying hello to someone in Swahili. Jambo means hello, jamba means I have gas.


9. The lines on the road are merely suggestions for drivers.


8. If an African tells you he will pick you up at 9:00 and he gets there at 9:59 he considers that on time.


7. A matatu is the primary means of public transportation in Kenya. Matatus are small vans that in America would seat about ten people. In Kenya they can hold as many as 21 people. Trust me, I know.




6. If you order 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast, don’t be shocked if you get 2 orders of scrambled eggs.


5. When walking through the slums you need to be on the alert for flying toilets. There is no proper sanitation in the slums so when slum dwellers go to the bathroom they put it in a plastic bag and throw it!


4. The most dangerous thing in Africa is not the wild animals, it’s crossing the street.


3. If an African tells you the place you are going is not far, don’t get your hopes up.


2. The Swahili word for a white person is mzungu. It translates to “here’s a sucker we can get to
pay twice as much for our trinkets.”


1. Never leave home without a roll of toilet paper. (You don’t want to know.)

Evangelism is not enough.

I'm all for evangelism. To me it's the number one job of the church and by the church, I don't mean the place we go on Sundays, I mean you and I, we're the church. The problem is that many of us view salvation as the end product when it's actually just the beginning. While there is an instantaneous transformation that occurs in us when we accept Christ, there is also another transformation that is just beginning at the point of salvation. That transformation is the transformation of you and I from immature baby Christian into fully devoted followers of Christ.

When I accepted Christ as my savior, I was the primary benefactor. I got eternal life, I got the power of the Holy Spirit, I got a new life. But if I mature into a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, the people around me are the benefactors. Think about it for a minute. As I become more like Jesus Christ, I become a better husband and my wife benefits. As I become more like Jesus Christ, I become a better father and my kids benefit. As I become more like Jesus Christ, I become a employee, and my employer benefits. Every person I interact with benefits from my transformation into a fully devoted follower of Christ. Salvation is for me, becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ is for others.

What would happen to the United States if we could raise a generation of wild eyed crazy fanatics for Jesus Christ? I'll tell you what would happen. Our government would be better, our businesses would be better, our families would be better; every aspect of life in the US would be better.

This is one of the reasons I love what Source of Light is doing in East Africa. We are providing Bible study materials to help turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Right now we're working with about 25,000 kids. Within a couple of years, our goal is to increase that to 100,000 kids, that's 25,000 kids graduating from high school every year who are well on their way to becoming fully devoted followers. Just think of the potential impact that will have on the nation of Kenya in ten or fifteen years!

To learn more, go to www.soleastafrica.org.

Dukem is your passport to Ethiopia

I had lunch while in Ethiopia with Ambassador Kassa. Am. Kassa was the Ethiopian ambassador to the Soviet Union for over 40 years. He was just returning from meetings in Moscow with the President of Russia. He is now the Minister of Human Rights and has great influence within the Ethiopian Government. He has set up meetings between Source of Light and the President of Ethiopia as well as with the Minister of Health. During our conversations over lunch he made this comment: "Dukem is your passport to Ethiopia." In case you are not aware, Source of Light Ethiopia has a 9-acre piece of property in Dukem, Ethiopia where we are building among other things a free clinic for the town (population 60,000) as well as a Christian school where at least half the students will attend free or significantly reduced tuition. I am not sure how SOL connected with the ambassador but I think it has something to do with our director, Halie. He is one of those guys who as the Bible would say has "favor with God and man." I am not even sure if the ambassador is a Christian. What I do know is that he sees the interest SOL has in the people of Dukem and is willing to use his great influence to help us not only in Dukem, but literally all over the country. It is fair to see that without Am. Kassa, we would not be in Dukem nor would we be where we are in Ethiopia today. I don't know why, but I am always amazed at the people God uses to carry out his plans.

On a lighter note, I have really enjoyed Ethiopian food. They have this coffee called makiato and I don't know what's in it, but I can drink it by the gallon. Unfortunately, when you order it, it comes in little tiny cups. One thing strange about Ethiopians is they do not like to use silverware. They prefer to eat with their hands. They have this stuff called engira they eat with. The best way to describe engira is it's looks and has the texture of thick prewrap (you athletes will know what I am talking about). It comes in rolls and you break off a small piece and kind of scoop up your food in it. It's actually not all that bad.

The best laid plans...

I’d like to think God has a sense of humor. After all, we are created in His image and we have a sense of humor (at least most of us). Besides, how else can you explain giraffes, elephants, and cheerleaders?

I have this scene that plays in my head from heaven. It actually starts here on earth with us. We start most days with a plan and a pretty good idea of how things are going to go for the day. What meetings we will be attending, who we will talk to, what project we need to get done, etc. God also has a plan for how our day will go; only His plan is a little more accurate than ours and sometimes He does not give us a lot of notice regarding His plan. So here’s the scene, God’s up in heaven and He calls all the angels together and He says, “Hey, ya’ll watch this.” And then He proceeds to introduce something into our day that turns everything upside down. Ever been there?

I got up this morning with a plan. We were going to spend the day training some pastors, teachers, etc. on how to use of Source of Light materials with their organization. My part was easy. I was going to deliver a 30-minute mini-sermon which I spent the previous night putting together (which was if I might say so myself very good) to the group.

Before training, we had to stop by the court house because some of the workers had been stealing things from our ministry center and they were in jail and the case was proceeding and Halie, our director, needed to meet with the prosecutor. Halie comes out of the meeting and says he has to come back at 2:00 that day. I say, “That’s impossible, who’s going to do the training this afternoon?” He looks at me and says, “You do it.” So my talk suddenly went from 30-minutes to 3 hours! Have I mentioned that I have never done this type of training before. And to make matters worse, everything was in Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. All the materials were in Amharic and I was supposed to spend 3 hours talking about them and I don’t understand one word. Can you say panic!

To make a long story short, I had some of the material on my computer in English that I was able to use and I had an incredibly good beyond words afternoon teaching a group of incredibly committed men and women how to disciple the people in their organization.

So my day didn’t go as planned, in this case, it went better than planned.

My Excellent Adventure

After spending most of my morning with our staff in Ethiopia, I spent the afternoon in search of a projector. This would definitely fall under the category of TIA (This is Africa). When I arrived at customs the sent my bags through the x-ray and discovered the projector I was bringing for the office. They confiscated it and we were expected to pay duty on it. The only problem was that they did not know how much it cost nor could they find any info in the computer so they sent us on our way and told us to come back today. We came back today to a different office several miles from the airport and they could not find the specific model in the computer so they sent us to the airport to get more info. After about 45 minutes we got to look at the projector. We wrote down every number we could find and took them back to the other office (did I mention the office was several miles away? After another 45 minutes, we finally got a price of $500. We were feeling very good about that since the projector cost $700 in the US. We took the paper work back to the airport and presented them to the customs officer to see how much duty we would have to pay. The customs officer informed us that it would cost us $450 to get the projector! But it would only cost $20 to bring it back to the US, so guess what will be making the return trip to the US with me?

First day

Had a great first day in Ethiopia. We traveled to Dukem (about 30 minute drive) to look at the progress of our new facility. We are building a 12,000 sq ft. facility that will house a medical clinic, a 17-room guest house, a restaurant, and meeting room. The medical clinic will provide free health care to the 60,000 people of Dukem. Upon completion, the clinic will be staffed by a full time doctor, nurses, and a lab technician. Not only is medical care very limited in Dukem, it is expensive. Our clinic will provide free health care to the community. We will supplement the clinic with short term medical trips from the US. We would like to bring four teams a year and provide medical care not only for the people of Dukem, but for the less developed regions of the country as well.

On a lighter note, I like to sleep with the noise of a fan so when I got to my hotel in Dukem, I asked a housekeeper if the hotel had a fan. She did not understand so I proceeded to use all my acting skills to demonstrate what a fan was. I was waving my arms and blowing trying my best to communicate. She did not understand nor did two of her colleagues. Ten minutes later I get a knock on my door and it’s the housekeeper and she hands me an electric power strip! Apparently my acting skills need some work.

First day

Had the best first night of sleep I think I have ever had in Africa. Maybe the weather has something to do with it. 50's at night and 70 for a high. Off to Dukem this morning where I will be spending the week. Can't wait to see the progress of our facility.

Ethiopia

At least 14 straight hours on a plane. Crappy food. No movies. But all is good because I got an exit row seat. For those of you with short legs, you have no idea what you are missing being crammed into an airplane seat.
This is my first time in Ethiopia so my first time going through customs and that's always an adventure. Besides taking forever, they confiscated the projector I brought for our director to use! I think he's going to get it back, but it will take a while.
I am staying in Addis Ababa, the capital, tonight but not really sure what it looks like since it's dark. The hotel has free wireless in the rooms which is a first. Tomorrow I will travel to Dukem, the location of our ministry facility. I'm very excited after only seeing pictures to actually see the progress.
Off to bed.

What would your heavenly father say?

I love good questions and this is a good one. This question was posed several weeks ago by Francis Chan at Catalyst and I have not been able to get it out of my mind. I think about it all the time. The entire question is this, “If someone mentioned your name to our Heavenly Father, what would he say?”

I cannot help but think about this question from the perspective of an earthly father. We all have fathers and many of us are fathers ourselves. So what kind of things do you remember your father saying? Phrases like, “You did a great job” and “I’m very proud of you” come to mind when I did something good. And “I’m very disappointed in you” and “You could have made a better decision” were common when I did something stupid. If you’re like me, you probably remember some that were a little more painful and maybe some that you said to your own kids that you regret.

What I have noticed about most of the comments from my father (and most I have made myself) is that they are responses to my actions. When my son does good, my response is praise. When my son makes poor decisions, my responses are less encouraging. Now I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, my kids should know when I am proud of them and they should know when their behavior is disappointing. I think it’s part of growing up. I just wonder what comes to my boys’ minds when they wonder what I think of them.

Francis Chan says that if your name was mentioned to your Heavenly Father, His response would be, “Man I really, really love that guy!” When I heard that the first time, I thought, “Boy I hope that’s true!” There are lots and lots of things I know I have done that have disappointed my Heavenly Father and maybe some things that He would be proud of, but the cool thing is that our Heavenly Father’s response to us has less to do with what we do and more to do with who He is. It’s just like us as self-centered humans to think that God’s view of us depends on us, but the truth is that God’s view of us depends on God.

Think about this. Knowing how you treat God, knowing how you treat the people who love you, knowing the things you think about, and knowing all the things you put in front of your relationship with God, would you die for you? Well, God knew……..and He did! So the next time you think about your Heavenly Father, remember, “He really, really loves (insert name here)!”

Be a Kayaker

So I spent last week at my parent’s house in Virginia. My mom has Alzheimer's so I have been trying to get up a little more often. My parents live on a lake so a typical day starts at about 6:30 AM with a little fishing. I usually get back around 9:00 for breakfast followed by a nap. After dinner it’s back on the lake again for a little more fishing. Then I wake up the next morning and do it all again. Hey, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Over the years I have occasionally noticed a retired guy out on the lake rowing a boat up and down the lake. To be an effective rower, you sit with your back to the direction you are going and pull hard on the oars. Since he couldn’t actually see where he’s going, every once in a while, the guy would glance over his shoulder to get his bearing, but for the most part his view was of where he had already been.
I know people who live their lives in the same way; occasionally looking towards the future, but primarily focusing on where they had been. Their past failures and poor choices have somehow paralyzed them and prevented them from seeing opportunities in the future. It seems to me that if you live your life like that, always looking in the past, you miss a lot. You miss out on opportunities, you miss out on relationships, and if you’re not careful, you might just run into something that will sink your boat.
On one of those days while I was watching my rowing friend, about one hundred yards ahead of him, I saw a guy in a kayak. Unlike rowers, kayakers face the direction they are going and focus on what’s ahead, not what’s behind them. I couldn’t help but think, on the lake of life I want to be a kayaker not a rower. I mean, let’s be honest, we have all failed in the past, we’ve all said things we regret, we’ve all messed up relationships, but do we have to be paralyzed by them? Are we just prisoners of our past? Not me, I choose to live like a kayaker.
I used to have a poster in my classroom that said, “This is a safe place to make a mistake, but hopefully you will make a different one each time.” Now, I want to learn from my mistakes and not keeping making the same ones; I just don’t want to live them over and over again in my mind. If God can forgive us of our mistakes and put them in our past, why can’t you and I?
So in the words of that great theologian from The Lion King, Pumbaa, “You got to put your behind in your past.”
Be a kayaker.

God will never give you more than you can handle (or will He?)

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this. It sounds good doesn’t it? Especially when you are going through a difficult time in your life. The only problem is I’m not so sure it’s true. I think about Moses when the Israelites left Egypt. Shortly after leaving they found themselves with the Red Sea on one side and the entire Egyptian army closing in on the other. I’m pretty sure that was more than Moses could handle. How about Gideon? Remember him? God called Gideon to rescue the Israelites from the Midianites (not a real nice bunch of guys). To say Gideon was a reluctant leader would be a huge understatement (Judges 6). Not only that, but after assembling his army, God told him it was too big so instead of going into battle with an army of 32,000; God paired it down to 300. I’m pretty sure that was more than Gideon could handle.
Want a modern day examples. Remember Bernie Madoff? He’s the guy who defrauded thousands of investors (some of them his friends) out of billions of dollars. I have a good friend who had a similar experience. He invested all his money with a good friend who took every penny. He’s already lost his house, the bank came and got his cars this week and he’s penniless. They did all the right things: they prepared well for their retirement, they have been very generous with their time and money over the years, they are committed to serving God and have made a significant impact on the kingdom of God, yet they find themselves homeless and penniless and instead of enjoying their retirement, they are both looking for work. I’m pretty sure this has been more than my friends can handle. This is just one of many stories of people I know who are in difficult times and I’m guessing if we sat down over a cup of coffee, you could share some stories of your own.
My personal belief is that God does indeed allow things in our lives that are more than we can handle. What I don’t believe is that God allows things in our lives that HE can’t handle. Just read about the disciples, it’s the story of a group of guys who kept finding themselves in situations where Jesus had to bail them out. And what was the result, their faith in God kept increasing (which was kind of important since it wouldn’t be long until they were running the company) to the point that after Jesus left for heaven, their lives were perfect examples of men who put their complete faith in God.
These are hard times for many people, and while I don’t want to give one cent answers to million dollar questions, maybe these are really opportunities for us to put our dependence in God and not in ourselves. Here’s what I know, either you are in one of those really hard things, you’re just coming out of one of those really hard things, or you are heading into one of those things (some people accuse me of having the spiritual gift of discouragement!)
My penniless friend is a great example of this. For me, I’d be heading to the pawn shop to buy a gun and start looking for my “good friend” who took all my money (at least in prison I’d be guaranteed three square meals and a bed to sleep in). For him, he’s looking for God in all this and while it hasn’t been easy, I’m confident that’s exactly what he’ll find.

Class V Faith

I don’t know how many of you have ever white water rafted, but I have. Now I’m not talking about one of those sissy rivers in North Georgia like the Ocoee; I’m talking about the real deal. I’m talking about the Gauley River in West Virginia. For most of the year, the Gauley is a very nondescript quiet river; that is until Gauley Season. Starting in September, the Corp of Engineers begins a series of controlled releases through the Summersville Dam which feeds the Gauley River. Those releases turn this quiet tame river into one of the best white water rivers in the country. It is full of class IV and V rapids with names like Sweet’s Falls, Lost Paddle, Upper and Lower Mash, and Pure Screaming Hell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui7YQ2XDkU4&feature=PlayList&p=2B5BD3DE8E5F4770&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=43v=Ui7YQ2XDkU4&feature=PlayList&p=2B5BD3DE8E5F4770&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=43).

If you Google Gauley River, you’ll see all kinds of pictures and videos; nothing of which can prepare you for what you are about to endure. First of all, it’s cold (remember, this is October in West Virginia). This is only a problem until you actually get on the river because after you’re on the river, you don’t have time to think about the cold and peeing in your pants (which you’ll do on almost every rapid) has a tendency to keep you warm. Second, none of the instructions you have received about paddling, what to do in case you fall out, etc. can prepare you for what you hear. That’s right, before you actually see the rapids, you hear them; the big ones sound like a train. I still remember that first rapid, it was something called a hydraulic preceded by a five foot drop. A hydraulic is a big boiling whirlpool of water. If you don’t have enough momentum traveling into a hydraulic, you get sucked in and sucked down. If you’re lucky, after the hydraulic sucks you down, it throws you down the river. If you’re unlucky, you pop back up in the hydraulic and get sucked down again and again and again. There are huge undercut boulders that the river flows under where you can be sucked in and drown (that’s where I fell in!) And once you’re in the raft, you’re in for the duration. Even if you could get out you’re in the land of Deliverance and we all know how that turned out.

I have discovered that my spiritual life has been challenged over the past several months in similar ways as my physical life was challenged on the Gauley. I have heard lots of people talk about living by faith over the years. It sounds very spiritual, very exciting, very adventurous, etc. It’s kind of like rafting the Gauley, in fact I bet a bunch of you are saying, “Man, I can’t wait to try that!” The only problem is that there’s a big difference between talking about rafting the Gauley and actually doing it. It’s one thing to hear and see people doing it and actually being in a raft heading towards that first class V rapid. When I think about it, there are not many people I know that I would put in that “living by faith” category. And by “living by faith” I mean living in such a way that if God doesn’t come through for you, you’re sunk. Now, I’m not there, but I feel like my raft is taking me closer and closer to that rapid. I began working full time with Source of Light this summer and received my last paycheck from Landmark August 1. I now find myself in a position where I am more dependent on God than I have ever been. Verses like “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear,” and “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” have become very challenging. Sometimes I feel like I have bipolar faith, one moment I feel confident God will meet my needs, the next I wonder if those verses are really true. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining or looking for people to feel sorry for me (at this moment I’m at the confident end of the spectrum), I’m just saying that talking about living by faith and living by faith are about the same as talking about the Gauley River and getting in the raft.

Guest blogger

In honor of the first day of school, this post is compliments of Parker Millican. Parker is an 8th grader at the school where my wife teaches. Last year he was in her class and throughout the year collected quotes from Judy. So I present to you (compliments of Parker Millican)

Quotes from Mrs. Titus

Are you yakin up the yin-yang?
Whatever floats your boat?
Quite your whiny baggin’.
You turnin’ to the dark side?
Hold your taters!!!!
Are you smellin’ the coffee?
Stop bein’ squirrelly!
It’s your own little red wagon.
You yakin up the wazoo?
Stick that in your pipe and snoke it!!
Son of a sack sucker
Lump it
No more halabalu
Zip the lip
In a red hot minute
Push your pencil
Chatty Cathy
No chicken scratch

For those of you who have had Mrs. Titus, please feel free to add to the list.

Modern Day Menonites

Did you know they sell (or used to sell) Christian breath mints at Christian Bookstores. I don’t know about you, but this is a great relief to me. I’ve always had this sneaky suspicion that those “secular” mints have something in them that make me sin more. And besides, imagine being in a crowd and busting out your Christian mints, I’m sure the whole crowd would accept Christ right there on the spot!
When I take a close look at culture, it seems to me that as Christians we spend too much time trying to copy culture and too little time trying to influence it. Think about it, we have Christian clothes (take your pick), Christian dating services (Equally Yoked), Christian awards programs (Dove Awards) amongst others. Now, I don’t have a problem with any of these, I think all of these have value (except maybe the Dove awards. I mean can you imagine back in the day, “And the winner for best song of the year is…….Psalm 37” and “The song writer of the year is ………King David.”). The real danger of this Christian subculture is when it extends to our activities. We're at the point where not only can we wear and hear everything Christian, but we can now “do” everything Christian. It is possible, especially for teenagers and those of us who work for Christian ministries, to have little or no interaction with the world. Our kids go to church on Sunday, Christian school on Monday through Friday, and Six Flags (Christian music weekend of course) on Saturdays. For all practical purposes, we have turned into modern day Mennonites. (You know, the guys who wear funny clothes and drive horse drawn carriages).
I know what I have described is real, because it’s my family. I work for a Christian organization and my wife works for the Christian school my son attends. I can remember our pastor asking us to make a list of all the people we knew who did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I did not have a single person that lived within 100 miles on my list! It’s pretty hard to be salt and light to a world that we don’t interact with. Many people who put their kids in Christian schools have them there to keep them away from the world. My big fear about having my son in a Christian school is that it will do just the opposite. That he will become so comfortable in this Christian subculture that we have created and that he will lose his burden for the world. It’s pretty hard to be salt and light to a world you don’t interact with.
So here’s my question. When was the last time you had a “God conversation” with someone far from God? Been awhile? Maybe you should do something about that and start building some relationships with some lost people.

One Name Wonders

There are a few people in society that are famous enough to be known by just one name. Like Michael, Lebron, Oprah, and Bono to name a few. I’m not going to lie; I think it would be pretty cool to be that famous. My only problem is that Mike and Michael are already taken. I guess I could go by my middle name, Gordon or Gordy, off the top of my head, I can’t think of any famous people with that name. Before you start laughing, I get my middle name from my grandfather. He was one of the coolest guys I have ever known so I wear his name with pride.
It’s interesting to me that the Christian community imitates the secular world in many ways. I’m not sure that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but that’s a message for another blog. In the Christian world, we have Billy, Andy, Louie, and Fee. Now don’t get me wrong, I like listening to these guys, and I’m pretty sure they are not in it for the fame and notoriety. In fact “pastor worship” probably says more about us than them.
The truth is however, most of the people impacting the kingdom are not “one name wonders.” They’re guys like my boss, Jack. Jack is 83 years old and still going strong. He’s responsible for thousands and thousands of Kenyans coming to know Christ and thousands more being turned into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Most people in the world have never heard of Jack, but I know this, when you get to heaven you’ll find him hanging out in one of the bigger mansions. I know this because there are going to be so many people stopping by his mansion to celebrate and say thank you it’ll have to be huge.
Another one of those guys you’ve never heard of is Sarnaa (long a at the end), which by the way would be a cool name for a one name wonder. I met Sarnaa this summer and he has a great story. I find myself attracted to people with great stories who spend more time serving God and less talking about God. Sarnaa felt God calling him to Ethiopia and so last year, he got on a plane with about $80 in his pocket and went to Ethiopia. Did I mention he only had a one way ticket to Ethiopia! I don’t have time to tell you his whole story; you can read more about Sarnaa at http://www.pleaseread.org/. It’s a great story and a must read so check it out. Sarnaa got involved with the kids in Ethiopia and started talking to them about God and stuff. He asked them what they wanted and they said they would like a library “to study, to learn, and to get empowered.” Pretty cool, huh? Well guess what one of Sarnaa’s projects are? That’s right; he’s starting a library one book at a time (check out his website for the details). So I was thinking there might be someone at Landmark (cough, cough, Beth, Hillary, Sarah) who could start collecting books or someone at Auburn University (cough, cough, Mike, Will) who could start collecting books. And with the thousands of people (evangelistically speaking) who read this blog, we could probably help Sarnaa take a truck load of books back to Ethiopia when he goes back (but don’t ask him when he’s going back, he’s very sensitive about this).
Even though most of you have never heard of Sarnaa you are definitely going to want to get involved. He’s going to be another one of those guys with the big mansions in heaven and I’m sure you don’t want to be left off that guest list.

It's a beautiful thing

"If you restrict your love to those like you, those you understand, those who make you feel comfortable, you will be pretty bored. If you dare to open your life to one person who needs a friend, you just might find yourself in an adventure of eternal proportions."
Christi Avant Watson from If God Were Real

Christi is a former student of mine. It has been great to follow her career and writing from a distance. It has inspired and encouraged me. It’s a very cool thing when the student becomes the teacher!

When I read this in If God Were Real (which I highly recommend), I can’t help but think of my wife, Judy. For those of you who don’t know, Judy, Kris, and I moved into a very needy neighborhood several years ago in hopes of making a difference. There are lots of drugs, alcohol, abuse, and kids with no direction and no role models. One of the first people we met was Marie. As far as I can tell, Marie and Judy have two things in common: they are both women and they both grew up poor. After that, they could not be any different. Judy is white, Marie is African American. Judy grew up in a strict Christian home; Marie had her first child before she graduated from high school. Judy went off to Bible College after high school; Marie went off to Atlanta to be a dancer (among other things). Marie is addicted to alcohol; Judy is just addicted to me! Marie spent last summer in jail and as far as I know Judy has never been in jail though last summer she did visit Marie. Marie walks with a limp and always has a few bruises because she has been in an abusive relationship for years. In fact, one night Marie was lying in the middle of the road. We almost hit her because she looked like a bag of trash!

Yet as different as they are, Judy and Marie have become friends. Not the “I think I’ll take Marie on as my project” friends; they have become real friends. In many ways, it would have been better for Judy if Marie was one of those “project’ friends. It’s kind of like doing service projects. You find a need, spend a day or two meeting that need and leave feeling good about yourself and what you have accomplished. Now I’m all for service projects, it’s just way different when you don’t go home. Marie is very needy and a lot of the friendship goes in one direction. I will say this about Marie, usually after she cusses Judy out for something that’s not her fault, she usually apologizes.

With Marie, progress is measured in inches and disappointment is measured in miles. Many nights, we sit and wonder if we have accomplished anything; of course Judy has set her goal pretty high, she just wants to save the whole neighborhood. While it has been frustrating for Judy, here’s what I know. Judy is probably the only true fried Marie has and quite possibly the only person that really loves Marie and in those rare moments of clarity when the anger of her life choices subsides, Marie knows this and it is truly a beautiful thing.

So, do you want to “find yourself in an adventure of eternal proportions?” It’s simple, “dare to open your life to one person who needs a friend.” Not only with the Marie’s of this world be better off, you will too.

I wonder what they will think?

"There's a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it." William Wallace

Coming to America! Thursday is going to be a good day. Cornell and Duncan from Care for AIDS in Kenya are coming to America. They will be speaking at Dogwood Church Friday night (not to late to get tickets http://www.careforaids.org/). It's very difficult for Kenyans to get a visa to come to America, in fact Duncan was turned down his first time. Duncan is young and single and many young, single Kenyans are turned down by the US Embassy because they come and never go home.

I often wonder about the reaction of people who come to America for the first time. I happened to run into our football coach last night and he was telling me about a young man who grew up in the slums of Kenya who was in the US speaking at a local church. The young man was sponsored by Compassion. He was nine years old before he got his first pair of shoes! It wasn't until he got a birthday card from his sponsors in America that he realized he even had a birthday! He spoke about the first time he ever slept in a bed, can you remember the first time you ever slept in a bed? I can’t remember the last time I didn’t sleep in a bed! One of the most amusing conversations I imagine having is over the storage centers that have become so prevalent in our communities. Can you imagine trying to explain to a kid, who if he’s lucky, has one additional set of clothes that that’s where we store all the stuff that we “need” that won’t fit in our house?

Now I know I’m supposed to use my time, treasures, and talents to impact the kingdom of God, but for some reason I struggle most with the treasure part. It’s frustrating because while I know this, I still have difficulty giving up my stuff. I want to blame it on American culture, but that just makes me weak or I want to convince myself that I need everything I have but come on, do I really need three TV’s? Maybe someday I will actually need the stuff in my storage unit, but much of that stuff has been sitting there for years. Oh and here’s the best one that because of how hard I work or how important the work I do is, I somehow deserve it. But if that were the case, Cornel and Duncan would be two of the richest men in the world.

Who Has Your Ear?

I am sometimes amused at the advice I hear teenagers giving each other. It’s not that you intentionally give each other bad advice; it’s just that with your life experience you don’t know any better. We all have critical decisions to make about things we have little experience with and the places we go for advice can be critical to making successful decisions.

There’s a great story in the Bible in I Kings 12 about a young guy who had one of these decisions to make. His name was Rehoboam, he was the son of Solomon (you know, the wisest and richest guy to ever live). Shortly after Solomon died and Rehoboam was named king, one of Solomon’s adversaries, a guy by the name of Jeroboam, came to King Rehoboam with the whole assembly of Israel to make a request. Basically he asked Rehoboam to lighten up on the people of Israel. Solomon had but a heavy burden on the people, both financially and physically, to build the temple. Rehoboam listened and told Jeroboam to come back in three days and he would have a decision for him. During the three days, Rehoboam sought council from two groups. The first group was “the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime” and they recommended that Rehoboam lighten up and give the people a favorable answer and they would always be his servants (v 7). The second group, “the young men who had grown up with him,” gave him the exact opposite advice, that not only should he not lighten up, but that he should increase the burden (v 8). Unfortunately, instead of listening to the elders, Rehoboam listened to his buddies who had no experience in governing (but who no doubt thought they were giving him good advice), and the result was disastrous for Rehoboam and the kingdom. Ten of the twelve tribes rebelled against Rehoboam and created their own kingdom and named Jeroboam their king. For the next 200 years, the two kingdoms were in constant conflict and weakened in their ability to defend themselves against invading armies. All because Rehoboam listened to the wrong people.

I’m guessing you won’t be making a decision that big any time soon, but chances are you will have some big decisions to make. Some of those decisions you may have some past experience with, but many of them you won’t: where to go to college, what major to pursue, where to work after college, who to marry, etc. I’m also guessing there are some people in your life that have not only made those decisions in the past, but made GOOD decisions in those areas.

So here’s the question. What big decisions do you have to make in the near future? Who do you know that had a similar decision to make that seems to have made the right decision? Maybe you should spend some time with them this week.

Integrity

"I would never do any of that crap. You think I'm going to ruin my relationship with God just because I want to get better in this game? You think I'm going to ruin everything because of steroids?"

Have you been watching the news lately? Do you recognize the names Steve McNair, Arturo Gatti, Mark Sanford, and Roland Burris have at least two things in common. First, I would put them all in the leaders column on my scorecard. Why? In it's simplest form, leadership is influence and all four of these men where influential in their particular field. Second, they have all been in the new this week at least partly because of moral failures in their lives. Which brings me to my point.

If you've been around Landmark Christian School for any time, you recognize this picture. The iceberg is one of the images we use to illustrate our view of leadership. Most of you are aware that 90% of the iceberg is underwater and only 10% is above the surface. We believe the 90% below the surface is a leaders character and integrity and the 10% above the surface represents a leaders skills.

If you think about it, most leadership failures are not a result of a leaders lack of ability, but rather a result of the leaders character and integrity. And just like it was not the part of the iceberg above the surface that sunk the Titanic, if you fail as a leader, it probably won't be your skills that cause you to fail. Yet, if we are not careful, we'll spend the majority of our time as leaders on improving our leadership skills at the detriment to our character and integrity. If you think about it though, it's only natural. If you are a leader, you are always thinking about how to get your group or organization from point A to point B. How can I motivate my followers? How can I communicate our vision to my followers more effectively? How can I plan and strategize to be more effective? While all these questions are important, without a foundation of character and integrity, you will never maximize your ability to lead. Also, because leaders love progress, there will always be a temptation to cut corners and compromise our character at the altar of progress. That's why quotes like the one at the beginning of this blog are so encouraging to me. Anyone know who said it? I'll give you a hint: I'm watching him hit home runs while writing this blog.

Whale Wars

So have you seen Whale Wars? It's a reality show about a group of people who sail around on a big boat searching for whalers. When they find them, they try to disrupt their ability to catch whales sometimes putting their lives in jeopardy. Would you risk your life for a whale? Would you give your life for a whale? Now I like whales. I've seen them in the wild in Alaska and seen them at Sea World. I think they are an amazing animal, but I'm sorry, there is no way I would give my life for one of those big guys.

What attracts me to Whale Wars and what keeps me from turning the channel is the passion of these guys. Here's a group of people so passionate about saving whales that they are willing to give their lives. Their entire lives are centered around saving whales. They spend months at a time on the oceans searching for whalers and when they are not at sea, they are preparing and getting ready for there next trip. I think after spending a few hours with these guys it would be clear what they are passionate about.

Makes me think, what am I passionate about? And, after spending a few hours with me, what would people think I'm passionate about? I know the right answers to the first question: God, family, the poor, etc. but the second question has me a little worried. It seems to me that it should be obvious to people around me what my passions are and that my two lists should be virtually the same. Not sure that's the case. It would be interesting to ask the people around me what they thought I was passionate about. Not sure I have the courage for that.

On a larger scale, maybe that's the problem with Christianity. Most of us who are followers of Jesus Christ would say our relationship with God is important. But how many of us would say we are passionate about our relationship with God? (Dictionary.com defines passion as: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music.) An, how many of the people we meet would say we are passionate about God?

Here's a pretty good video from an atheist that really makes me think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

Read Any Good Books Lately?

So I'm hanging out at St. Simons this week. I'm not really a beach guy, but as long as I have a good book, it's ok. While sitting on the beach, I can't help but wonder what happens to people's good judgement when they come to the beach. Is it the salt air? Maybe it's the sound of the waves crashing on the beach? I'm talking about the things people wear on the beach. I mean come on, does that guy think he really looks good in that speedo? Or how about the rather large lady with the bikini on? I realize that makes me seem shallow and judgemental, but please.

Speaking of good books, I have heard it said, "The only difference between me today and tomorrow, is the books I read and the people I meet." I don't think this is completely true, but it is true that the books you read have a significant impact on who you become. Did you know if you read 15 minutes every day, you can read twenty books in a year? I've also heard it said that if you read four books on a particular subject you can consider yourself an expert on a that subject. That means at the end of the year, you can be an expert on five different subjects. For you "youngsters", do you really want to end the summer with just a bunch of memories and pictures? Why not go back to school next year (actually next month!) with a bunch of pictures, memories, and a better understanding of God, a better idea of your calling in life, etc.

With that said, here is my summer reading list:

1. Wide Awake: The Future is Waiting Within You
by Erwin Raphael McManus
2. In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day
by Mark Batterson
3. Wild Goose Chase
by Mark Batterson
4. The Principle of the Path
by Andy Stanley
5. The Irresistible Revolution
by Shane Claiborne

I'm always looking for good books so please feel free to add your favorites the list.

Calling

Though I got home Tuesday, I have not been able to update until today. I spent the last four days visiting my parents in Virginia and my father has not completely embraced the computer age as of yet, he still has dial up. For those of you born in the last 20 years, the internet has not always been available on your phone or ipod. Back in the day, everything was dial up. Everytime you wanted to get on the internet, your computer would dial your internet provider over the phone line. This took a long time and was very slow. I think the only people who still have dial up are my dad and the people of Kenya!

I have mixed feelings about going home these days because my mother is suffering from Alzheimer's; it's very difficult to watch the people you love slowly lose their mental abilities. If there is any positive that has come out of my mom's condition, it's that it has brought the rest of my family closer together. Which brings me to my post for today. I am the second of four children. I have an older sister and a younger brother and sister. My youngest sister (we call her the golden child) is 12 years younger than me but probably the most like me (poor kid huh!) She has been teaching for about 10 years and this year will start a new teaching job at the alternative middle school. The alternative middle school is the place all the kids who get expelled from regular middle school go. They are the kids who bring guns to school, physically and verbally assault their classmates, etc. You get the idea, not the place most of us would look forward to teaching, but Amy can't wait. I don't know if she would use the word "calling" to describe what she does, but I would. I think my sister is just as much called to the kids in her middle school as I am to the people of East Africa. And, while she has no desire to work with the people of East Africa, I have no desire to spend my days with kids in an alternative middle school. In fact, I don't have any desire to spend my days with middle school students period! But that's what's great about God. He wires us all up different, gives us special gifts and talents, and the perfect job to fit our gifts and talents.

Have you ever looked around at all the suffering in the world and wondered why God would not do something about it? While I'm not positive, I'm pretty confident that with every problem in the world, God has gifted some of us and "called" some of us to meet that need. Maybe the problem is not with God, but rather with us and our not fulfilling God's call for our life. Something else I am absolutely confident of is that there's a group of kids in Northern Virginia that are going to be better off because my sister has answered the call. I am also confident that somewhere in the world, there is a group waiting for you to answer your call and when you do, you will find great satisfaction and fulfillment, and people will be blessed. So, go find your calling and answer it!
Please.

Duncan

One of the best things about coming to Kenya is the people I get to hang out with. One of those people is Duncan Kimani (he’s the one on the left). Duncan is one of the Kenyan directors of Care for Aids (www.careforaids.org). Care for Aids is a ministry that partners with Kenyan churches so people who are HIV+ can come to the church to get physical counseling, spiritual counseling, and resources to meet their physical needs. Duncan has a real heart for Kenyans with AIDS and has given his life to helping them. So much so that Duncan has taken in a 9-year old Kenyan orphan who is HIV+ named George. For all practical purposes, Duncan has adopted him as he is providing for all his needs. When Duncan first met George, he was very sick and living in poverty. Over the last year, through Duncan’s intervention, George is healthy and has a bright future. As if that was not enough, Duncan has opened up a house for 5 other orphan boys in the community. The boys are supervised in the house by a couple young men and a women comes in during the day to cook for the boys. They have a plot of land to provide their own vegetables and this week, Duncan is buying the boys a cow to provide much needed milk. The kingdom of God is a better place because of Duncan Kimani as well as the community of Limuru where he lives. Wouldn’t it be great if the same could be said of you and I?

The Door

Suppose you had to replace a door in your house, what would you do? Me, I’d get help from my friend Brad, he’s a builder. Suppose Brad could not find the right size door? Suppose all he could find is a big piece of wood that was the right thickness? Still no problem. He’d bust out the power tools, cut the door to size, chisel out some hinges, drill a couple holes for the door knob and be done. Maybe take an hour?
Not in Kenya. I have been watching a couple guys replace a door in the guest house I am staying and it has literally taken them all day, and they are still not finished! What’s the difference? No power tools. The door has to be cut with a regular saw, the holes drilled out with a manual drill, etc. This is the way things are built in Kenya. Very low on modern tools, very high on manual labor. I once saw some guys hauling concrete up to the third floor of a building with a 5-gallon bucket attached to a rope, one bucket full at a time. The other day, a guy was painting lines on the road with a paint brush! It’s a wonder anything gets built in Kenya.

Mosquitoes and the big D

During my time in Kenya I am constantly reminded of things that, in the US, are minor annoyances and how big a deal they are in Kenya. This happened to me last night. I have spent the last 3 days in Western Kenya and as I was nodding off to sleep last night I became aware of the buzzing of a mosquito in my ear. Back home, this would have just been annoying with the potential danger a red itchy mark on my skin in the morning. However in Kenya a buzzing mosquito is a whole different story. Did you know mosquitoes kill more people in Kenya than any other animal? (I know mosquitoes aren’t animals, but you get the point and just in case you have been living in a cave your whole life, mosquitoes carry malaria.) This was especially disconcerting to me since I don’t like sleeping under a net and I did not bring any malaria medicine with me. I spent half the night swatting at the air just to have the buzzing begin a few minutes later.

Another one of those annoyances I am confronted with is the big D. If you don’t know what that is, ask someone who has been on a mission trip. While a little more annoying than mosquitoes, it astounds me that while I can go to the drug store and spend a couple bucks for a cure, the big D is a potential death sentence for a child in Kenya. The primary cause of the bid D in Africa is dirty water. So if you don’t drink the water, you get dehydrated and die and if you do drink the water, you get dehydrated and die. Some choice huh?

How is it possible that in the 21st century someone can die from a mosquito bite or diarrhea? I just don’t get it.

CU Official

As important as the CU Patron is to the spiritual development of the students on campus, there is another group that may be more important, the CU officials. The CU officials are a group of students that oversee the activities of the Christian Union. They are responsible for the weekly meeting of the CU fellowship, prayer meetings, and Bible studies. If you are a CU official at a boarding school, you are also responsible for Sunday service. When I say responsible, I mean completely responsible with no adult supervision! For all practical purposes, they are the pastors for their student body. I got to meet with some CU Officials yesterday and I was blown away by their maturity and the seriousness with which they see their calling. The students I talked with met every morning for prayer before school and everyday at lunch to discuss issues and problems of their fellow students. At the end of this term they will select new CU officials for the upcoming school year. On a visit to a school in February, I asked them how they pick new CU officials and they told me they start with a week of prayer and fasting before they pick their new leaders! I could not help but think about what an impact a group of students with this kind of commitment to God and to their classmates could have in America.

TIA

For those of you who have traveled in foreign countries, you understand that there are cultural differences, some minor and some major. For example, Kenyans understanding of time is much different than ours. At lunch yesterday the waiter told us our lunch would be ready in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes is the standard answer to every question about time. Very rarely does it mean twenty minutes and at lunch yesterday, it actually meant ninety minutes!

If you are going someplace and you ask the driver how far, it’s always “Not far.” Soon you realize that every place in Kenya whether five miles away or five hundred miles away is not far. When I ask my friend Nawaz about Kenyans inability to understand time or distance he usual responds by saying, “TIA (This is Africa).”

Another one of those TIA things is hospitality. Hospitality is a very big deal in Kenya, much different than in the US, so when you visit someone in Kenya it is considered a blessing from God. It is customary for you to offer your guests something to drink and even something to eat. Usually you are either served a soda or chi tea. Chi tea is boiled with milk and has a much thicker consistency than American tea. Some people really like it and some don’t. Regardless, if someone offers you chi, it is a huge insult if you do not drink it. Fortunately over the years I have acquired a taste for chi so it is not as big a problem as it used to be but on my early trips to Kenya, I would dread it when the host brought out the thermos of chi. When we bring students to Kenya and they are served chi, we strategically seat students who like chi next to those who don’t and discreetly switch cups during our conversations so that when it is time to leave, all the cups are empty.

On Tuesday, we visited a school after we had just finished a big lunch and after our meeting, we were offered lunch! Not just a small plate, but a heaping plate of rice, vegetables, and meat. This was a poor school in the slums so for them to offer us lunch was a huge sacrifice. So what do you do when you are already full from lunch and someone offers you another lunch? You smile big and eat it and that’s exactly what we did.

CU Patrons

Every secondary school in Kenya by law is required to have a Christian club called a Christian Union (CU). It does not matter if the school is a public school, a private school, a Christian school, or even a Muslim school. These CU’s are led by someone called the CU Patron. He/she is responsible for overseeing the CU and helping the students mature in their relationship with God. SOL East Africa partners with these CU patrons by providing Bible study materials for them to use with their students. Currently we are working with about 400 CU Patrons throughout Kenya.

I have spent most of my time thus far meeting with CU patrons and trying to discover ways we can improve our partnership with them to help them become more impactful in the lives of their students. I have been with CU patrons in government schools, in Christian schools, I even visited with a CU patron in a Muslim school; talk about a difficult job. I met with the CU patron at the premiere school in Nairobi as well as CU patrons from the slums whose student bodies consist primarily of orphans. They are an amazing group of committed men and women who love teaching, but more importantly love God and love their students. I have been encouraged by what I have seen and overwhelmed when I think about how much of their work depends on us and our ability to provide resources. Most of them are doing what they are doing with very few resources. One of the things that they have consistently asked for are Bibles for their kids. Can you imagine not having a Bible? If you are like me you probably have several lying around your house. How is it possible that this book that I take for granted and often times neglect, is a prized possession in other parts of the world?

Matatoo

A matatoo is a van that is used for public transportation in Kenya. They are everywhere. It is the size and shape of the old VW vans from the 60’s and 70’s and are made to hold 12 people plus the driver. The big advantage of taking a matatoo is how cheap they are. We hired a cab to take us to Care for Aids on Saturday, a distance of about 30 km and it cost us 2500 Kenyan shillings (about $30). On the way home we traveled in matatoos and the cost was about $2. The disadvantage of taking a matatoo is the size. The saying in Kenya is that a matatoo is never full. The reason for this is because every body the driver can cram into his matatoo is more money for him. Today on the way to church, we rode in a matatoo with 25 people! I don’t know if there is a Guiness record for the most people in a matatoo, but I think we set it today.

Corruption

If someone asked you what the biggest problem in Africa is, what would you say? HIV/Aids? Poverty? Hunger? Clean Water? While all of these are enormous problems, I believe the biggest problem facing the African continent is corruption. The reason corruption is the biggest problem is because it’s the problem that affects all the other problems. Everyone wants a piece of the pie so when money and resources are sent to Africa to assist in the AIDS crisis or to provide food and clean water, by the time it gets to the people the pie is much smaller.

That’s why I believe Source of Light East Africa can play a critical role in changing the culture of Kenya. At the heart of our ministry is discipleship. There is a lot of evangelism going on in Kenya but not a lot of discipleship. Currently SOL Kenya disciples approximately 25,000 high school students through our Bible studies. They are learning the basics of the faith through Bible study courses like New Life in Christ, they are learning about sexual purity through Understanding Love and Sex, and they are learning how to mature in their faith through courses like Practical Christian Living. If a student remains active using SOL Bible studies during his entire high school career, they will graduate with a thorough understanding of God’s Word and the foundation to live godly lives.

So this year, around 6,000 of our students graduated from high school. In four years many of them will be graduating from college and ten years from now, many of them will be the government and business leaders of Kenya. Not the “business as usual where’s my piece of the pie” leaders, but leaders with character and integrity that love God.

Now think about increasing the number of students involved in our Bible studies from 25,000 to 100,000 and you’ll understand what keeps me up late at night!

First day

After 19 hours of travel and layovers, I arrived last night at about 7:30 PM (I am 7 hours ahead of Atlanta time). Someone was at the airport to pick me up (which is always a good thing) and bring me to the Gracehouse where I will be staying. This trip is unusual in that it is the first trip I have ever taken to Africa alone. Usually I am here with a group of students from Landmark. I guess I will get used to it, but it was a little weird this morning at breakfast. My work starts in earnest this afternoon with a meeting with Timothy Kiyuli our Source of Light Kenya director.

View of God

On my first trip to Kenya, I traveled to a boys boarding school outside Mombasa. It was a difficult trip over tough roads traveling to this school high up on a hill. Upon arriving, we met with some Christian boys in their library. Remember those movies you've seen where they go in to the library and it's so dusty, the pick up a book and blow the dust off it? That's what the library was like. It was a 10 foot by 20 foot building with no electricity but light was not a problem as there were enough holes in the mud and stick walls to let in ample light.

My job at the school was to talk to these young men about their relationship with God and to encourage them to stay in the Word. Little did I know that I would learn so much from them. After my little talk, one of the boys stood up to lead the group in prayer. As I bowed my head and closed my eyes to pray, not only did this boy begin praying, but all the boys in the room began to pray. Out loud! It surprised me so much that I took a little peek and was blown away by what I heard and saw. I could hear some of the boys near me just pleading with God and begging God, some of them with tears flowing down their cheeks. And while I could not hear everyone, it was clear from the expressions on their faces that they were having deep and intense conversations with God.

It was at that point that I realized the God these boys served was different than the God I served. It really shook me up, I was the great bible scholar from America and these were just a bunch of high school boys living on the top of the hill. They didn't have electricity, cell phones, hey they didn't even have ipods! Suddenly, all the stuff I had didn't seem half as important as the relationship with God they had.

Here's my challenge to you. What if God came to you and told you that because of all the people on the earth today He was really busy and would not be able to handle your prayer requests anymore. Suppose He told you that while He still had a home for you in heaven when you died, you were on your own for all you needs in this life. How significantly would that affect your life? While I want to say God plays such a key role in my life that it would devastate me, when I dig a little deeper, I find a truth that is not so appealing. How much do I depend on God as opposed to Kroger, and my doctors, and my money, and my talents. The ugly truth is that maybe it would not be as devastating as I like to think and that really bothers me.

Retirement

I spent the week at Source of Light headquarters doing some training. I think the average age of the workers at SOL is in the 70's. In fact, I think there are only 2 or 3 people at SOL who are under 50. If someone had blindfolded me and walked me into the building I would have sworn it was a retirement home!

At first, it was kind of weird hanging out with a bunch of people in their 70's but after spending time with them I was blown away. I think there is this nagging in the back of minds of people my age about retirement. When will I be able to retire? Will I have enough money to retire? Will I spend my retirement eating mac and cheese and Ramon noodles? What I discovered about these people was that instead of sitting around on their porch drinking sweet tea all day, they choose to use their "retirement years" serving God! They are all volunteers who spend their days printing and preparing bible study materials that are sent all over the world. Because of their efforts, hundreds of thousands of people have come to know Christ and countless more are being discipled!

It has really challenged my view of retirement. Though I haven't studied it, I'm pretty sure retirement wasn't God's idea. So maybe there will come a day when I won't have a vocational job, but I hope I always have a kingdom job.

I think it'd be pretty cool to be in the middle of doing kingdom work when God calls me home. What better way to meet the "Boss" than while on the job.

Ignatius

God has been bringing people into my life over the past week that are really challenging my faith and my walk with God. Last week it was Christi Baker and the children's choir from Kenya. This week it's Ignatius. I am in Madison, GA this week doing some training with Source of Light. That's where I met Ignatius. Ignatius is a missionary to India.
Several months ago, a group of Ignatius's relatives got really upset with him. So upset that they beat him and his father up. Hearing Ignatius tell the story with a smile and a chuckle makes it sound like a minor thing, until you ask him what they did. His beating required several stitches in his head, he could not raise his arm above his shoulder, and his knee was bruised. For several weeks he had trouble eating because his jaw was bruised as well. His father, who by the way is 95, suffered significant injuries as well.
What I find amazing is that Ignatius can laugh about this and cannot wait to go back to India! I am really challenged by this. I'm pretty sure my response would be different. I am pretty sure that I would not go back and what's more, I think I would find some spiritual way to justify not going.
My idea of hardship is not having access to the internet or having to drink Chi tea.
I think I have a lot to learn.

Perspective

In February on our Landmark trip to Kenya, our team met an incredibly gifted young lady by the name of Christi Baker. I don't know Christi's whole story, but I do know she had spent some time living in a place called Kibera. Kibera is one of the largest slums on the African continent. Somewhere between 700,000 - 1,000,000 people live in one square mile. Kibera is the worst place I have ever seen in my life. (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7490163340912405232&ei=OP4iSrWqO4f8rgLSvLGyDg&q=kibera&hl=en). Christi was there with 410 Bridge putting together a choir of Kenyan orphans to visit churches in the United States. This morning I got to hear them at Southside Church in Peachtree City. They had only been in the US a couple days before coming to Southside.

When I think about their lives at home and the living conditions for most of them compared to mine, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to have been born where I was. And what is it that I did that was so remarkable to earn me a birthright in the US?

If I am not mistaken, approximately five of every one hundred births in the world are in the US and chances are if you are reading this, you are one of the five. So what about you, what did you do that was so spectacular that would earn you the privelege of being born in the US?

So if it wasn't something you did, maybe you were born here because there is something God expects you to do to make life better for those less fortunate. Remeber, to whom much is given, much is expected. For more perspective, check out the Eight Dollar Hotdog (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZKLan6ea0s)

Be There

So my last official duty at Landmark was speaking at Baccalaureate. I got the chance to tell one of my favorite stories. It's a little long, but I think it's worth the read.

If you are a big basketball fan, you have to love this time of year. We’re down to the NBA semifinals. And we get to see some of the greatest athletes in the world, But, before there was Lebron and Koby, before Shaq and Michael, even before Magic and Larry, there was Pete. Pete Maravich. Pistol Pete Maravich. Pete Maravich was obsessed with basketball from an early age. He never went anywhere without a basketball. When his mom would come tuck him in at night, without exception she would find Pete laying in his bed shooting his basketball up at the ceiling. He would even take his basketball to the movies and sit on the aisle and dribble his basketball. Half way through the movie he would switch sides of the theater so he could practice dribbling the ball with his other hand. And though he would have fit in well with the current NBA, his playground moves, circus shots, and hotdog passes were considered outrageous during his era.
Pete Maravich was a college star at LSU where he averaged over 44 points a game during his career and at that time there was no 3-point shot. At the time of his graduation from LSU he had set over 40 NCAA records. He was an All-American all 3 years of his college career and was the College Player of the Year in 1970.
He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks and was the first player ever to receive a million-dollar contract. He was a 5-time NBA All-Star and led the league in scoring in 1977. He was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 1987, the first year he was eligible. In 1996, he was selected as a member of the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team which recognized the 50 greatest players of all time.

As great as his basketball career was, his personal life was a disaster. You would think that a guy with all that money and all that fame playing a game he loved would find happiness and contentment, but it wasn’t the case. Pete spent most of his life going from one thing to another trying to find peace and fulfillment. He tried women, alcohol, and drugs. He even tried becoming a vegetarian, Buddhism, and even dabbled in astrology. In the end, all these things left him empty. It wasn’t until 1982 that Pete Maravich found the peace and contentment he was looking for. In 1982, Pete Maravich accepted Christ as his personal savior. According to Pete, and I quote “Once I was a disbeliever. When I could not fill my life with basketball, I would simply substitute sex, drugs or material things to feed my internal, shell-like appearance. I was never satisfied.” Now when Pete accepted Christ, he became as passionate and outspoken about God as he once was about basketball. He never missed an opportunity to share his faith with anyone who listened.

In 1997 at the NBA All Star game, Pete was recognized, along with 49 others, as one of the 50 greatest players of all time. It was quite an event. Each player, as he was introduced, would take his spot on the court to the cheers of the fans present at the game. Guys like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. Shaquille O’Neal was there as was Scottie Pippen, Oscar Robinson, and Kareem Abdul Jabaar. But when it was Pete’s turn to be introduced, he was represented by his two sons, Jaeson and Josh.
You see, in 1988, Pete Maravich was visiting with James Dobson at Focus on the Family. Dr. Dobson and some of his collegues would play basketball a couple of morings a week and on that day in January, he invited Pete to come play. After about 45 minutes of playing, they took a break to get a drink. Pete and Dr. Dobson stayed on the court talking waiting for the other players to come back. Dr. Dobson asked Pete how he felt and Pete responded by saying he felt great. Those were Pete’s last words and as Dr. Dobson turned to walk away he heard a thud. He turned back to see Pete laying on the floor. At first he thought Pete was joking, because Pete was somewhat of a practical joker and he thought Pete was playing off his final comment about feeling good. As he approached Pete still expecting him to get up laughing and, he realized Pete was having a seizure. On January 5, 1988, at 40 years old, Pete Maravich died in the arms of Dr. James Dobson. Not only did we lose a great basketball player, we lost a great ambassador for Jesus Christ.

That event so shook up Dr. Dobson, that he went home that night and sat down with his son Ryan, who was 17 years old at the time, and told him exactly what I want to tell you this evening:

I want you to understand what has happened here. Pete’s death was not an
unusual tragedy that has happened to only one man and his family. We all
must face death sooner or later and in one way or another. This is the
“human condition.” It comes too early for some people and too late for
others. But no one will escape, ultimately. And, of course, it will
also happen to you and me. So without being morbid about it, I want you to
begin to prepare yourself for that time. Sooner or later, you’ll get the kind of phone call that Mrs. Maravich received today. It could occur ten or fifteen years from now, or it could come tomorrow. But when that time comes, there is one thought I want to leave with you. I don’t know if I’ll have an opportunity to give you my “last words” then, so let me express them to you right now. Freeze-frame this moment in your mind, and hold on to it for the rest of your life. My message to you is Be there! Be
there to meet your mother and me in heaven. We will be looking for you on
that resurrection morning. Don’t let anything deter you from keeping that
appointment. Because I am fifty-one years old and you are only
seventeen, as many as fifty years could pass from the time of my death to
yours. That’s a long time to remember. But you can be sure that I
will be searching for you just inside the Eastern Gate. This is the only
thing of real significance in your life. I care what you accomplish in the
years to come, and I hope you make good use of the great potential the Lord has
given to you. But above every other purpose and goal, the only thing that
really matters is that you determine to be there!

And so, I hope your college years are a great success. I hope they are everything you have dreamed they would be and more. I hope you find a vocation that you are passionate about that brings you great satisfaction and joy. I hope you find that someone special in your life, fall in love, and have a great family. I hope your life will be one of impact for Jesus Christ. But most of all, when all is said and done, I hope you’ll be there, because I will be looking for you just inside the Eastern Gate.